Breast cancer affects approximately 1 in 8 women in the United States and the incidence of breast cancer throughout the world is increasing. With more than 200,000 new cases every year, it accounts for 28% of all new cancers diagnosed in women, with almost 40,000 deaths caused by breast cancer each year in the US. Ultrasound, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and/or X-ray imaging are currently used for breast tumor detection.
For advanced breast tumors, the patient may undergo neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) prior to surgery to improve outcomes, provide the option for breast-conserving surgery, and improve surgical margins. However, only 8-15% of patients have a complete pathological response to NACT. Currently, the success of NACT treatment can only be assessed through palpation or MRI imaging at the beginning and end of the NACT treatment. Thus, patients will have to undergo weeks of NACT treatment without knowing if the treatment is effective and for many of these patients NACT treatment will be ineffective.